Catholic church ends spousal health care benefits due to same-sex marriage law

By Michelle Boorstein

In case you missed our front page today, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington announced yesterday that it would stop giving spousal health benefits to future employees as a result of the District's new same-sex marriage law. The law forbids contractors of the city - such as the church's social service arm, Catholic Charities - from discriminating against same-sex married couples, and the church says it cannot do anything that will be seen as recognizing same-sex couples as married.

Needless to say, it's fascinating to watch the church weigh on one hand the giving of health care -- one of its most fervently-sought social justice goals - and on the other the issue of recognizing (even unwillingly) same-sex marriages as "marriages."

We're very interested in the impact on Catholic Charities' employees, present and future. If you are one, or know one, we'd love to hear your point of view. Please get in touch with me at boorsteinm@washpost.com